Theatre Review: The Owl And The Pussycat

If you were a movie fan in 1970, you may recall the film starring Barbra Streisand. The Sacramento Theatre Company has revived the Broadway play that inspired the movie, and even though it's a little dated, this romantic comedy has plenty of charm.

This two-character play from 1964 recalls a nursery rhyme about
an unlikely couple. The owl is the reclusive Felix, a bookstore
employee who writes fiction using a manual typewriter. The
pussycat is Doris, a stylish extrovert on the fringes of the
modeling business. When they cross paths, their clashing
personalities spark an instant argument.

Doris: "Oh, what will I do now? Why did I have to come up
here?"

Felix: "Why don't you correct your mistake and leave?"

Doris: "I should have given a certain friend of mine a dollar to
beat you up."

Felix: "A dollar? It can't be much of a beating."

Doris: "He's a friend. He'd do it for nothing, but I'd make him
take a dollar."

Felix: "I see."

Love at first sight, it is not. But eventually, after several
skirmishes, Doris lets down her guard. She pleads with the
exasperated Felix to help her get to sleep by reading to her aloud.
He chooses a very sexy text.

Felix: "Our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a new
nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that
all men are created equal… equal…"

Trust me, these two really do fall for each other
before this play is over. And it's believable because both
characters are very likeable. Veteran performer Tim Orr does his
nerdy intellectual character extremely well, typewriter, dictionary
and all . Long-limbed Lyndsy Kail flashes a high voltage
smile as she presents an attractive blend of confidence, sensuality
and vulnerability. The set design is a veritable time capsule from
the Sixties, with an old transistor radio and a rotary phone. All
in all, it makes for a nice evening of well-acted romantic comedy -
a pleasant journey into our collective past. Jeff Hudson, Capital
Public Radio News.